Antioxidant Activity Evaluation and Total Phenolics in Oils of Seed Extracted of the Moringa oleifera Lam

Moringa oleifera Lamarck is native of India, which has a variety of organic compounds in its leaves, recognized for high antioxidant capacity. The objective of this work was to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activity of extracts and oils extracted from the seeds and seeds/leaves of M. oleifera Lam. The content of total phenolic compounds of the extracts was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method and the cytotoxicity test evaluated by sulforhodamine B method. The results showed that the ethanolic extract of the seed presented greater antioxidant activity, its total phenolic content was 235.11 +/- 73.49 mg EAG/g and did not show cytotoxicity at the tested concentrations. The ethanolic extract of M. oleifera Lam seeds has good potential for having antioxidant activity and low cytotoxicity.